The Chronology of Ezra 4 Copyright (C) 2010 by Frank W
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Posted 08/02/10 The Chronology of Ezra 4 Copyright (c) 2010 by Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D. Introduction One's understanding of Ezra 4:7-23 has a surprisingly wide range of implications for other parts of Scripture, directly affecting his or her views for example on Ezra 7, Neh 1-7, and Dan 8-9. The problem is that the events reported in Ezra 4 are not in chronological order, nor does the text of the passage imply that they are. The order of events and the sequence of narration are both clear from the passage but are not the same. This fact illustrates a literary device called prolepsis, 1 whereby the story line reaches a certain point, then looks beyond it to events known to have happened later, and finally continues from the point where it had been interrupted. Because Ezra 4:7-23 describes events historically later than those that precede and follow them textually, the relationship of that section to other chapters and to material from other books cannot be taken for granted but must be explicitly determined. What I seek to demonstrate below is that the events of Ezra 4:7-23 are not only later than Ezra 5-6, which many grant, but also later than Ezra 7-8 and 9-10 and that as a result Ezra 7 and 4 are related. The decree authorizing Ezra and a caravan of others to return to Judea in chap. 7 must be taken in the context of chap. 4, where the work they do there is described. And the reverse is also true. The activity of the builders in chap. 4 must be taken in the context of Ezra's royal mandate in chap. 7. Nehemiah's work should be seen in this same context. His ability to finish the wall around Jerusalem in only fifty-two days (Neh 6:15), for example, is in part the result of work done by others not long before who had pioneered in the work of "restoring the walls and repairing the foundations" (Ezra 4:12). More importantly, if repairs to the city walls are the type of consequence that follows from the royal decree in Ezra 7, then that decree is an appropriate basis for dating the seventy week and 2300 day prophecies of Dan 9 and 8 respectively, which require a "'decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem'" (Dan 9:25) as their starting point. A lot rests on our understanding of Ezra 4. The Order of Events within Ezra 4 Up to vs. 5 the narrative of Ezra 4 is set in the time of Zerubbabel the Jewish governor and Darius the Persian king. 2 The task at hand is to rebuild the temple. In vs. 24 the timeframe is again the same. But in between vss. 5 and 24 the scene shifts to other later events. In vs. 6 there is a brief mention of trouble encountered during Xerxes' reign and then in vss. 7-23 attention is directed to an entirely different building project (the city, not the temple), different Jewish leaders (unnamed, not Zerubbabel), and a different Persian king (Artaxerxes, not Darius). Because the story line then returns to an earlier time--when the temple is incomplete, Zerubbabel is active, and Darius is king--rather than going on to still later events, the verses between 5 and 24 are proleptic. No rearranging of text is called for in this model. The events in question were discouraging and the writer did not wish to emphasize them. Thus, he chose to deal with this part of the story ahead of time as it were, rather than last where it would be more prominent. Historicism (Corrected) Page 1 No. 10/Apr 87 Hardy Chronology of Ezra 4 Sequence of Jewish building projects The returned exiles started the work of rebuilding with their need for a place of worship primarily in view. Thus, the altar was built first (Ezra 3:3, cf. 6), then the foundation of the temple was laid around the altar (3:10-13). The work on the temple was begun (4:1-3), interrupted (4:5, 24), and finally completed (6:15). When Nehemiah came the issue was no longer the temple but the city walls (Neh 1:3), so the city was rebuilt last, i.e., after the temple was fully complete. Placing the work on the city wall in Ezra 4:7-23 at a point before the completion of the temple in chaps. 5-6 does not fit the above sequence. See table 1. Table 1 Sequence of Objects Built in the Book of Ezra Object References Altar 3:3, cf. 6 Foundation 3:10, 11, 12 Temple 4:1, 3, 24; 5:3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17; 6:3, (5), 7, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 22 City 4:12, 13, (15), 16, (19), (20), 21 In Ezra 4:1 and 3 the temple was being built. In Ezra 4:12, 13, 16, and 21 the city was being built. In vs. 24, however, the focus of attention reverts to the temple. The middle of the chapter does not have the same timeframe as the beginning and end of the chapter. The above facts are summarized in fig. 1. B City (15, 19, 20) 12, 13, 16, 21 A A' Temple Temple 1, 3 24 Fig. 1. Chiastic summary of references to the two main building projects mentioned in Ezra 4. Sequence of Jewish leaders Four Jewish leaders active during the construction of the second temple were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, and Zechariah. The first two held administrative offices in a secular and religious capacity respectively. The second two were prophets of God. Zerubbabel and Jeshua are mentioned together in Ezra 2, 3, 4, and 5. Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned together in Ezra 5 and 6. All four were active at the same time, as can be seen from the following passage. Historicism (Corrected) Page 2 No. 10/Apr 87 Hardy Chronology of Ezra 4 (1) Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. (2) Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2) There is no contrast between the fact that Zerubbabel and Jeshua are mentioned only in chaps. 2-5 and that Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned only in chaps. 5-6. There is a uniform historical setting for all but one part of Ezra 2-6. See table 2. Table 2 Persons Active in Building Program in Ezra 3, 5, and 6 Person Ezra 2 Ezra 3 Ezra 4 Ezra 5 Ezra 6 Zerubbabel 2 2, 8 2, 3 2 . Jeshua 2 2, 8, 9 3 2 . Haggai . 1 14 Zechariah . 1 14 There is a contrast, however, between the fact that in some combination the above four Jewish leaders are present throughout Ezra 2-6 generally, rebuilding the temple, and the fact that they are absent from Ezra 4:7-23, where the project is the city wall. Sequence of Persian kings If the evidence from Ezra's references to Persian kings were isolated from the above information, it could be interpreted in more than one way. There is a Darius between Cyrus and Xerxes, for example, and a Darius that follows Artaxerxes. See table 3. Table 3 Sequence of Persian Kings in Ezra 4 King Verse Cyrus 5 Darius 5 Xerxes 6 Artaxerxes 23 Darius 24 In history there really was a Darius that preceded and one that followed Artaxerxes. There was also more than one Artaxerxes. It would be possible to argue that each of the above kings is different from the others and that they all follow each other in sequence, thus: Cyrus (559-530), Darius I (522-486), Xerxes I (486-465), Artaxerxes I (465-424), and Darius II (423-404). In view of the building projects involved and the names of the Jewish leaders Historicism (Corrected) Page 3 No. 10/Apr 87 Hardy Chronology of Ezra 4 connected with them, however, the fact that Darius appears twice--at the beginning and end of chap. 4--is actually evidence that the sequence repeats itself. See fig. 2. Artaxerxes Xerxes [Xerxes] Darius Darius Cyrus [Cyrus] Fig. 2. Summary of Persian kings named in Ezra 4 showing that Darius in vs. 24 is the same as Darius in vs. 5. Names in square brackets are supplied. Discussion It is most unfortunate that the Jewish leaders active in the failed attempt to rebuild the city walls in Ezra 4 are not named, but we have an important clue to their identity. The king should know that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations. (Ezra 4:12) From vs. 12 we learn that the above men did not return from captivity on their own initiative. The text does not say they came "from Persia" or "from Babylon" but "from you." We must conclude, therefore, that those engaged in the work of "restoring the walls and repairing the foundations" returned to Judea with official authorization to do so. By this I do not mean that in some general sense they were allowed to return. The text implies they had a royal mandate.